Tottenham Hotspur will look to go one step closer to securing a European place when they take on Stoke City at the Britannia on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, boss Tim Sherwood has been speaking at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and gave TottenhamHotspur.com a team news and injury update including the latest on the fitness of Michael Dawson, Mousa Dembele, Etienne Capoue, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker and Erik Lamela.

The good news is that skipper Dawson is back in contention tomorrow after returning to full training this week following a hamstring injury that he picked up against Chelsea at the start of March. The defender will now battle it out with Younes Kaboul and Vlad Chiriches for the first team spot.

Sherwood told the clubs website:

“Michael has made good progress and will be in the squad.”

The Spurs coach also confirmed that influential midfielder Mousa Dembele remains a doubt with an ankle injury that kept him out of last weeks 3-1 win over Fulham at White Hart Lane.

French midfielder Etienne Capoue returned to full training on Thursday after several months out with an ankle injury but the Stoke game is considered too soon for him to return, so he remains on the sidelines along with long-term injury victims Jan Vertonghen (ankle), Kyle Walker (pelvis) and Erik Lamela (back).

Spurs head into the game sitting sixth and six points clear of Manchester United – who have a game in hand – so victory over Stoke would go a long way to securing a top six finish and guaranteeing European football again at the Lane next season.

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